Psychometric evaluation and invariance of the Spanish version of the Block Fat Screener (BFS-E) in university students

Abstract

Introduction: University students constantly face a number of health challenges related to an unhealthy diet, characterized by a high intake of saturated fats.

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Block Fat Screener (BFS-E) food frequency questionnaire in a university population.

Methods: An observational analytical study of instrumental type was carried out in 5608 Peruvian university students. Based on the Block Fat Screener questionnaire, a back-translation and cultural adaptation process was carried out. The validity of the questionnaire was determined through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), hypothesizing a unidimensional structure. For the determination of reliability, the alpha coefficients were considered; likewise, the ω and H coefficients were used to evaluate the construct. The model explained 63% of the cumulative variance.

Results: The CFA confirmed the unidimensionality of the 16-item questionnaire with appropriate goodness-of-fit indicators; therefore, which model of the Peruvian version adequately fits the observed data. The values of the reliability coefficients were higher than 0.90, with ordinal α = 0.94, ω = 0.94, and H = 0.95.

Conclusion: The Spanish version of the Block Fat Screener food frequency questionnaire presents adequate psychometric properties and is therefore a valid scale to quickly measure fat intake in university students in a Latin American context.

Keywords: factor analysis; fat consumption; psychometrics; questionnaire; university students.